Chapter 1: A Rough Start
Jane MCcarthy stumbled, falling to one knee hard, feeling the skin break. She stayed there like that, panting as the afternoon sun beat down on her head, and slowly got back to her feet, resuming her slow walk. She looked around, eyes squinting against the sun as sweat slowly travelled down her face. It was a vast space of nothing but dead grass and shrubs for miles, the scars of the fifth blight still plaguing the land that was once called Lothering after all of these years. She despised the damage the darkspawn had done to this land, but that was long ago, before her great grandfather was born, when the grey wardens were still around and Ferelden was constantly at war. She smiled slightly at this as she slowly walked on. Ferelden was still constantly at war, and for a long time they were winning. Now they were at war against their oldest enemy, and they were losing.
She sighed, shifting her rifle to her other shoulder and walking on. Endless walking; she had the amazing luck of having no transportation. The fifth blight had been in 9:30-31; almost 1000 years ago. From past experience, everyone thought that Ferelden would fall sooner or later, but after the inquisitor saved Thedas from Corypheus, Ferelden quickly gained power, and after 50 years rivaled Orlais. Ever since then they battled for superiority, neither able to gain the upper hand, until 100 years ago, where both signed the treaty of Andrastes tears, finally forging peace between the nations after years of war.
Then, a month ago, the last grey warden died.
She wiped the sweat from her eyes and smiled, finally seeing her destination; a rickety old building. A few people tried to populate the area that was once Lothering, but no matter how many years past, the land never recovered, and she guessed it never will. They quickly gave up, leaving small houses abandoned here and there. This one was the one she was supposed to meet her father at in case things went south and he wasn't able to make it home.
Well, things went south, and badly.
There had been a few more blights over the years, but all were put down; even wars between Orlais and Ferelden were stopped temporarily to fight the blight. No matter how far they came with technology, they still couldn't find a way to stop the blight besides the grey wardens. Guns killed darkspawn just as well as a sword, but were useless against the arch demon. The grey wardens were still vital to the survival of Thedas. So when the last one died and took all of his secrets with him, they were defenseless.
She sighed in relief as she finally arrived at the old building. Even if her father wasn't there yet, there would be supplies hidden away at least, and she desperately needed them. She ran out of water the day before, and only had a piece of moldy bread left for food. She was exhausted, having been traveling by foot for a long time. She couldn't wait to lie down and sleep for a few hours, regain her strength.
She was about to open the door when she heard a loud clanging noise, making her freeze with her hand on the doorknob. She waited, and sure enough heard more noises; it sounded like someone was searching the house. She slowly pulled her rifle off of her shoulder, checking to see if the safety was off. Gun aimed straight ahead, she turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. It made a very loud creaking as it slowly swung open.
The source of the noise jumped, swinging around and aiming a pistol at her. If he wasn't aiming a gun at her she would have lowered hers; it was a kid, probably no older than 15, dirty with his clothes ripped almost to shreds.
"Hey, calm down now. Relax." She said, slowly walking into the building. The kids hand were shaking, making any shot he would have attempted miss; he was obviously scared.
"W-who are you? What do you want?" He said, eyes wide with fear. He must have been alone for awhile now to be scared of her; most men these days laugh at a woman with a gun. She didn't lower her gun, but she tried her best to soften her voice.
"My name is Jane. This is my dads shack, and I was supposed to meet him here." She paused, then said, "Are you hungry?"
He hesitated at first, then nodded.
"Well, I know where my father hid his supplies. If you put your gun down, I will share some with you."
He hesitated, still doubtful of her, and she didn't blame him; these days, you had to be, or you usually died…or worse. She was about to speak again when the kids stomach growled loudly. He blushed and finally gave in, lowering his gun. She lowered hers as well, smiling. "Got a name?"
He hesitated again, being shy, then said, "Carl."
"Well, Carl, as long as you promise not to try and shoot me, I will hold up with my end of the deal,"
He smiled at her, and she relaxed for the first time in what felt like ages, though it was only a week. She put her guns strap back over her shoulder and went over to the bed. The mattress looked old, and was probably filled with a colony of bugs, but she didn't want the bed; she moved the bed to the side, and felt along the wall until she found a part of it that felt different. She hit it a few times, and it gave in. She moved it out of the way and pulled several bags full of various supplies, from canned food to medical supplies. She reached in farther and pulled out a couple of canisters full of water, silently thanking her father for always being prepared.
She turned and saw Carl staring at the bags as if they were gifts from Andraste. She laughed at the sight, finding it cute in a strange way. "Carl, give me a hand and gather something to start a fire. Wood, cloth, anything flammable will do." He nodded and went off. She sighed in relief and started pulling what she needed from the bags, glad for a moment to relax and eat.
.
She woke suddenly. She rubbed her eyes, trying to get rid of her grogginess and find out why she had woken up. She looked around and saw Carl up as well, yawning. She was about to dismiss it and go back to sleep when she heard a twig snap outside. She quietly got up, taking her rifle from the wall. Carl pulled out his pistol, looking at her with fear in his eyes. She put a finger to her lips, and he nodded. Normally she would just put it off as being an animal, but no animals dwelled in these lands; they avoided it like the plague it is. She started creeping towards the door when a loud scream broke the silence of the night, making her blood freeze.
"Janneth!" Carl yelled, and ran towards the door. "Stop!" She yelled, but he ignored her, tearing the door open to go outside.
And he ran head first into a dark spawn. The creature towered over the kid, wearing old, rusted armor. Its eyes were dark, endless pits, and its mouth contained rows of sharp teeth. It held a long, cruel looking sword, rusted with blood, as was its ancient armor.
The stuff of nightmares.
Carl gaped, slowly backing up. The dark spawn roared, breaking Jane out of her trance. She quickly aimed her rifle and fired. The bullet hit it in the face, tearing half of it off, but it didn't fall. Carl screamed, raising his pistol to shoot it, but the darkspawn swung his sword, the sword a blur as it came across, cutting the kids head clean off of his shoulders. His head fell and hit the ground, rolling over next to Jane's feet, lifeless eyes looking up at her, as if accusing her of his death. She screamed, holding down the trigger and letting the automatic rifle fire, tearing the darkspawn apart. It finally fell with a loud clang and she stopped firing, panting loudly, horrified at what she just witnessed. She felt numb, useless, unable to save Carl.
She didn't have time to break down; she heard movement, and another darkspawn ran through the door, charging her. She didn't hesitate this time; she fired her gun, feeling the recoil against her shoulder as the bullets hit the darkspawn. It collapsed at her feet, but wasn't dead; it was still trying to grab her ankle. She shot it in the head, killing it, and went outside to see if there was more.
It was dark, and she could barely see, but she saw all she needed to, and almost threw up at the sight. The girl that screamed, whom Carl called Janneth, lay on the ground, torn up and very dead. Kneeling next to her was the last darkspawn, who was eating the poor woman. It looked up at Jane, debating whether she was a threat or not, eyes staring right at her.
She was a threat. She aimed her gun, firing it and killing the monster with one shot, making its head explode. She felt some of the blood and gore hit her pants, and she gave in, falling to her knees and throwing up the food she just ate.
She got up after it was over, wiping her mouth off. She couldn't stay here any longer; where there was one darkspawn, there was 100 more. She went back inside, packing up as much of the supplies as she could carry and hiding the rest back behind the bed. She took out her knife and carved her initials into the wall; that way her dad would at least know she had been there.
She exited the house and started traveling, not knowing where she was going to go, but knowing that Carl's dead face was going to haunt her dreams for many nights to come.
.
.
"He's late." Steven Hawke said out loud, forgetting that he was alone. He sighed, checking his watch again and glaring at it. He had agreed to wait for his friend, Jake, here an hour ago. The man wasn't known to be late; when you were in the military, you learned to be on time. Something side tracked him, and Steven had no idea where he was coming from. He sighed, sitting against a tree and setting his shotgun down next to him.
Everything had gone to shit too fast. One day, everything was normal. Steven was relaxing at home, glad to finally use his vacation days from the Ferelden military. He rarely used them, but finally decided he needed a break. Just as he was beginning to enjoy a good cup of coffee, he gets a call telling him that the last grey warden, Harven Cain, had died. Steven went numb at the news; he had known Harven personally, and was crushed. Not even a week later, the darkspawn attacked, most likely sensing that their only opposition had finally fallen, and everything went to shit.
The military thought they had it under control; darkspawn without an arch demon were uncoordinated and easy to take care of. But this wasn't the normal small bands of darkspawn; they came pouring out of the damn ground like fizz from a soda bottle that's been shaken up to much. And they didn't stop; they just kept coming, over running everything in their path. No one saw an arch demon whatsoever. It didn't matter.
The Ferelden army tried to resist them, but no matter how many they killed, more came to take their place, and they started to lose ground. Nothing worked; air raids, mortars, dragon's fire, nothing stemmed the tide of monsters. It got so bad that the Ferelden's called for aid from Orlais, who answered. With their combined forces, it seemed like they would finally push the darkspawn back.
But suddenly another army of darkspawn appeared, as if from no where, and hit the combined armies from their flank, wedging them and slaughtering them. After that everything went to chaos; every man fought for themselves, killing each other over weapons and food. The remaining forces fell back to Denerim, and have holed up there, barely able to keep back the onslaught of darkspawn. Anyone who wasn't inside the city when they closed it off was shit out of luck, left to fend for themselves.
Since Steven had been on leave, he wasn't in Denerim, and got locked out. He had been wandering, doing his best to survive for about a week until he got a message from his friend to meet up at the location he was at now.
And here he was, yet no sign from Jake. Most people would worry, but Steven wasn't that type of person. Jake was his friend of course, but the world was coming to an end, and Jake being killed on his way here wouldn't be all that surprising. Not only does one have to avoid the Darkspawn, you have to avoid other people as well, who were sometimes worse. At least Darkspawn usually killed you quickly; some people will do much worse things, and laugh about it as if it was funny.
Steven sighed, shifting his weight, not able to get comfortable. He'd wait until dawn, and if Jake didn't show by then, he would move on. It wasn't safe to stay in one spot too long anymore, and Steven didn't plan on dying anytime soon. He didn't join the military for the fun of it; he joined so he could learn how to survive, and that's what he planned on doing.
He was about to get up and move when he heard a rustling and saw the bushes ahead of him move. He didn't get up; he simply grabbed his gun, laying it in his lap. After a few seconds, a man stumbled out of the bushes and fell to the ground, as if he was pushed. The man was followed by 3 more men, all holding guns. The man on the ground looked up, and Steven recognized him as Jake.
Jake, it seems, and been through hell; his faces was a bloody, swelling mess, one eye so swollen he couldn't see out of it. Jake tried to stand up, but one of the men behind him smashed the butt of his gun against the back of Jakes head, knocking him back to the ground. Steven watched, holding his gun, waiting to see what would unfold.
"Well I'll be damned, the fucker wasn't lying; there really is someone waiting for him here." The smallest guy said, stepping forward. Steven guessed he was the one in charge of this little group. He had tattoos from head to toe, and as he smiled, Steven saw he was missing several teeth. Lovely fellow.
"Not to surprising, considering we beat the shit out of him until he squealed." The third man said, laughing. He was surprisingly fat for the lack of food. The one who hit Jake said nothing, just kept his eyes fixed on Steven and his gun fixed on Jake; Steven guessed this was the one to look out for.
The leader walked up to Steven, stopping a foot away from him. Steven could smell him from here, and wrinkled his face in disgust. "Alright, listen up pig fucker." The small man said. "Hand over your weapon and anything else you might have, and your friend here gets to li-"
"Let me stop you there." Steven said, cutting the small man off, who frowned. "I could care less what you do with Jake; not only did he get captured by a group of idiots, he spilled his guts at a simple beating. He should be ashamed to be a soldier." Then Steven stood up, towering over the short man, and got right into his face.
"Another thing, you're full of shit. You would take my guns, then kill us both anyway. I'm not fucking stupid. The only thing a stinky little fuck like you will get from me is a bullet to the face. We clear?" Steven finished, watching as the little guys face grew red with anger.
"You fucking-" The little man attempted to say, starting to lift his gun, which looked like a cheap submachine gun. Steven was a lot faster; like a snake, he swung his gun, the butt of it connecting with the small mans jaw. Steven felt it break as the small man fell. He saw Jake leap up and grab the gun of the guy behind him, wrestling him for it. The fat man got over his shock and attempted to raise his gun, but again Steven was faster. He raised his shotgun and fired, hitting the fat man full in the chest, killing him. The fat man collapsed, and Steven turned to the last guy, gun aimed, when he heard a shot. He saw Jake clutch his chest, eyes wide with surprise as blood spilled from his chest and mouth, and fall. Steven didn't hesitate; he fired his shotgun, taking the last mans head almost completely off. Steven looked around, making sure there wasn't anymore surprises as the last man fell with a thud.
Not finding anyone else, Steven made sure the first guy was still on the ground, then walked over to his friend. Most people felt a rush when they fight, or feel nervous; Steven only felt calm, as if it was as natural as breathing. Must be the Hawke in him. He knelt down next to his friend, and quickly saw that there was nothing he could do; the bullet hit him dead center, hitting his heart. He gripped his friends hand as his life drained out of him until he passed, going limp.
Steven sighed, getting back up and walking over to the last of the group, who was attempting to get back to his feet. Steven felt a small bit of anger for his fallen friend, and kicked the small man in the stomach hard, knocking him back to the ground and making him wheeze. Steven roughly rolled him over with his foot, seeing the pain in the mans face. Good, now he knows how Jake felt.
"Any last words, you pathetic fucknut?" Steven said, reigning in his anger. Anger was never good on a battlefield; it only clouded your senses. The small man laughed, then cringed as he realized his jaw was broken. "Fuchh you, the Las Light wi-" He never got to finish, as Steven shot him in the face, disintegrating the mans head and feeling blood fly up into his face.
"I lied; I didn't want to hear your last words." Steven said, wiping the blood off of his face. He checked all of them for ammo, and walked over to his dead friend. He bowed his head, hoping Jake went to wherever the hell he believed in, the walked off, wondering where he was going to go next.
.
.
Jane had finally started to see more buildings, which was a good sign as well as a bad one. With more houses meant maybe more supplies, and cover from Darkspawn; but it also meant more hiding places for both Darkspawn and people. She tread carefully, rifle in her hands, keeping an eye out for any danger. She checked the houses one by one, and found nothing; there was either nothing here to begin with, or they were picked clean long ago. She sighed as she checked another house and found it empty. It had been a week since the incident with Carl, and she had enough left for about another week. But she went a whole week finding nothing, and it didn't look like it was going to get better anytime soon.
She was about to leave the house when she heard noises; it sounded like yelling and laughing. She crouched down, making sure no one could see her through the glassless windows. She crept up to one of the windows and peeked over it, finding the source of the noise. She couldn't see what was going on, but it was definitely happening in the next house over. She silently leapt through the window, slowing her breath as she crept up to the next window and peeking through. She saw 4 figures; 1 on the ground, coughing and clutching his side, 2 more hovering over him and laughing. The last guy was searching through a bag, which she quickly guessed belonged to the man on the ground. She felt anger well up inside of her; the world was ending, and people could only think for themselves. It sometimes made her wish that the Darkspawn did kill everyone, most seemed to deserve it. Then she remembered the innocent children and families that were slaughtered by the first waves of Darkspawn, and regretted her thoughts.
She ducked her head back down, debating what to do. There was no way to end this peacefully; men like them would most likely jump her, take her guns, and probably rape her. Three against one wasn't fair, but she couldn't just sit by while they beat and robbed this man; her dad said she was always too kind hearted, and that it would get her into trouble. She sighed, seeing no way but to kill them, and crept around the building until she found a doorway, the door itself torn off the hinges. She peeked around the wall, and saw their backs were still to her; good, made this much easier. She snuck in, crouched low, gun aimed directly at the nearest guy to her, the one searching through the bag. She set her sights on his head, held her breath, and put pressure on the trigger.
She stopped herself, not able to go through with it; she wouldn't hesitate to kill someone if they threatened her life, but she just wasn't a cold blooded killer. She adjusted her aim instead, and fired, seeing her bullet hit him in the leg. He cursed loudly, falling to the ground, the bags contents spilling all over as the man clutched at his leg. The other 2 quickly turned towards the noise, and she fired again, hitting another one low in the body, probably nicking his kidney. He groaned, falling to his knees, and the other guy was trying to pull out his gun, but it seemed stuck on his belt.
She got up, walked over to the remaining man, and smashed the butt of her gun against his face, feeling his nose break as his head snapped back and he fell to the ground, unconscious. She turned and repeated this with the second man, knocking him out as well. She turned back, panting, and saw the man on the ground slowly getting to his feet.
He had long, unkempt brown hair, with brown eyes to match. His lip was busted and his head a little swollen, but he got off easy as she saw it; 3 men could do some damage. She kneeled down next to him. "Are you alright?"
He looked at her, and to her surprise he was glaring. "Yes, I am fine. I'm going to guess you want a reward for saving the mage, hm?"
She blinked in response. Mage? They were rare now a days, being shunned most of the time. For awhile, relationships between people and mages improved, until one mage decided he wanted to rule the world. He ended up failing, and the hate and fear towards mages came back, even worse than before. Most were killed the instant they showed any signs. She felt sorry for mages; to be hated and killed just because you were different. That was the human way.
"Look, I didn't even know you were a mage, nor do I want a reward. I just couldn't watch as you got robbed."
He still looked suspicious, but he nodded, getting up. "Well…I thank you. I have a small amount of provisions as it is; I would have died quickly if they were taken from me."
She nodded, turning around and freezing. The first guy she had shot had gotten up, leaning against the wall and aiming a pistol at her. She felt fear grip her heart as she realized she was probably going to die.
"You stupid bit-"He had begun to say, then she saw a flash of light, and the mans chest exploded, pelting the walls with blood and gore. He died instantly, falling to the ground. She stood there frozen, not comprehending what happened, until the mage walked forward, his hand glowing. She slowly got over what she just saw, shaking her head as if it would help.
"Was…that you?" She asked, knowing the answer already. He nodded. "Yes…it was. That was the first human I've killed…it's a lot bloodier than I imagined."
She looked at his hand. He followed her gaze and shook it, making it stop glowing, and she noticed he was blushing a bit. "Sorry, I forget that most people these days haven't seen magic." He said.
She regained he composure, putting on a smile. "It's fine; it doesn't bother me."
He blushed a bit more while raising an eyebrow. "It doesn't?"
She shook her head, walking over to the other 2 to make sure she had no more surprises. "Not at all. I never had a problem with mages. Though you're the first I've seen use magic." She pressed her fingers against their necks and sighed in relief as she found a pulse. Killing Darkspawn wasn't a problem for her, but she didn't like killing humans, and would avoid it as much as possible.
She got up and saw the mage putting stuff back into his bag. "What's your name?" she asked, not wanting it to get awkward. He looked back at her, hesitating, then simply said, "Clint."
"Mine's Jane. Where are you headed?" She asked, pulling her clip out to see how much ammo she had left. About half of the clip, the sight making her cringe.
"No idea. I was just moving." He said, drawing her attention back to him. He had gathered all of his stuff, and was now standing there, waiting for her response. She heard a groan from behind her, and guessed that the man she knocked out was coming to. She debated with herself on what to do, then made a decision.
"Well, you can travel with me if you want. More strength in numbers and all that."
He gave her a questioning look. "You wouldn't mind traveling with a mage? Would make things more dangerous for you."
She glared at him, feeling a little annoyed. "I am a woman in a dying world with savage men who would do screwed up things to me if given the chance. I doubt you could make things more dangerous for me."
He blinked, surprised, then laughed. "Good point." He smiled at her. "I wouldn't mind having someone watch my back. Besides, running from Darkspawn is more fun if you're not the only one scared out of your mind."
She raised an eyebrow at him, not seeing anything funny about that, and simply walked out of the house. She turned, seeing him shrug at follow.
She had a bad feeling at that moment; she couldn't explain it, she just felt like something was majorly wrong. She looked around, trying to find the source of this strange feeling in her gut, but she saw nothing.
"Is everything all right?" Clint asked, looking at her as if she said something crazy. She shook her head and walked on. Maybe it's because of Carl. I don't want to see anyone else die like that.
If she had known the real reason she felt like that, things would have been very different.
.
.
Steven glared at the sun, which was currently dipping behind the horizon, making a beautiful view. He wasn't mad at the sun; he was mad in general. He had been traveling along Lake Calenhad, going from small city to the next searching for supplies, and he found absolutely nothing. He had eaten the last of his provisions the night before, a pathetic meal of dried meat that only teased his roaring hunger. He had underestimated how much supplies he had, and no matter how hard he tried to spread it out, he couldn't make it last longer than a week.
He looked at the lake as he walked, seeing the reflections from the sun dance as if they were alive. It was a pretty sight; he might have actually appreciated it if he wasn't so damn hungry. He grunted to himself, looking forward and seeing a small town called Ferenhine slowly get closer. It had a decent amount of houses, and if worse came to worse he could try fishing tomorrow. He picked up the pace, sending small clouds of dust flying. He wanted to be out of the open and somewhere where he didn't feel so vulnerable.
The instant he entered the town he heard sounds of movement. He raised his shotgun, finger off the trigger, and proceeded more carefully, being ready for anything. He turned a corner and was almost tackled by a small blond woman. He quickly jumped out of the way; his reflexes still sharp from the military, and watched as she sprinted towards a house. Not far behind her, two men appeared, and quickly followed her into the house. He heard a small scuffle, than a loud thud as someone hit either the ground or a wall.
He stood there, debating on what to do. He wasn't the hero type of guy who saved damsels in distress; as he saw it, if they couldn't last against humans, then the Darkspawn would quickly end them anyway…or worse.
But he now noticed that the house they ran into was the biggest house in the town he could see, and that meant it was most likely to have food. Shrugging, he walked over to the house and walked inside as if nothing had happened.
Inside he found them quickly; the girl was on the ground, her head bleeding from a head wound, which he found out came from the wall, seeing her blood on it. One of them men turned to look at him, while the other was looking at her with hungry eyes. "What the fuck do you want" Said the one who looked his way.
Steven fixed him with a hard stare. "Looking for supplies. What's it to you?"
The guy hesitated, and then said, "Fine, but she's ours. Keep your distance." Steven looked at them, and found the guy talking had a pistol in his belt, while the other guy had a knife. Not to heavily armed, and no threat to Steven. "You don't have to worry; I'm not that pathetic." was his response. The guy looked at him, but decided to ignore his remark, turning back to the girl.
Steven went into the kitchen, actually wishing the guy would have tried something. Even though it was none of his business, he didn't condone rape, seeing it as pathetic. He opened cabinets and drawers, his mood growing fouler for every empty space he saw. He heard the two guys talking, but couldn't catch what they were saying. He opened the fridge, and then slammed it after seeing it was empty. Was there no more god damn food left in this shitty dying world?
He walked back into the living room, shaking his head in frustration, and saw that the one guy with the hungry eyes had started unbuckling his pants, while the girl was just starting to come too. She looked up, locking eyes with him as he passed, and said "Help me."
He stopped, staring her dead in the eyes. She was actually pretty, with ocean blue eyes and a slender jaw. But he wasn't like other men who jumped at anything with a pretty face. "Why?" was his response.
Her eyes grew wide. "What? Why do you thi-"But was cut off as the man with the pistol slapped her hard. "Shut up bitch. Keep your whore mouth shut and you might actually enjoy this."
Steven glared at the guy, finding him more pathetic by the second, then turned back to the girl whose lip was now busted. "Normally I keep my nose clean of shit like this, but I'll make you a deal; I'll help you if you help yourself."
She looked confused, and the guy with the gun turned towards Steven. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Shut up, I wasn't talking to you." Steven replied bluntly, not even seeing the guy; his eyes were still locked with the blonds, waiting to see what she would do. Her eyes grew wide as she finally understood what he had said, and after taking a breath, she grabbed the pistol in the guy's pants, pulling it out. He turned back to her, eyes wide with surprise as she aimed it right at his chest and pulled the trigger. There was a loud bang, and the guy fell, clutching his chest. His blood had splattered her in the face, and she looked horrified.
The other guy quickly grabbed the pistol from her, tearing it from her grasp and grabbing her hair. "You dumb slut, now I'm going to-"But he never got to finish, as Steven fired his shotgun, hitting the man full in the back. His blood sprayed across the wall as he fell, probably dying almost instantly. The blond still looked horrified, looking from Steven, to the dead body, and back to Steven. She's too innocent for this new world. He thought, wondering what to do. She would certainly die on her own, but he wasn't a babysitter, and someone who wasn't willing to do almost anything to survive would just drag him down and die.
"As I said, if you help yourself, I'll help you." He said finally, walking over to her and kneeling down. He locked eyes with her again, seeing she was still in shock. "Hey, snap out of it." He said in his best soldier's voice.
She blinked, snapping out of it, and looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time. "I…guess I should thank you…" He raised his hand, cutting her off and making her blink again.
"No need to; you helped yourself. But you look like you still need help." He said. He saw she had dropped the pistol. He pointed towards it, saying, "Pick that pistol back up."
She looked at it as if it would grow fangs and bite her. "But…it's covered in blood…"
"So?" He said, surprising her. "Do you not realize what's going on? The world is ending. If you want to survive, you are going to have to throw away any ideas you had on how life works and morals. This is survival of the fittest, and you are going to die if you can't get over little shit like blood on a gun. Now pick up the damn pistol."
She gaped at him, surprised at the sudden speech, but slowly her hands reached out and picked up the gun. She was shaking slightly, but she did it, making him nod. "Good, now search him for any ammo. He will most likely have it in his pocket."
She hesitated for a second, then nodded, patting him down and finding a spare clip. She searched the ground until she found her pack and put it in there, standing up. She was still shaking, but she had listened and gotten over it. She's scared. Good, fear makes you do what is needed.
He got up as well, walking towards the door. He stopped at the doorway, turning his head back to her. "You can travel with me. It won't be easy; I'm a hard bastard who travels at night and can be irritable when hungry, but as long as you're with me, you will learn how to survive these dark days and become stronger from it."
She looked at him in amazement, and then nodded. "Well, if you're irritable now, I have food…"
Steven almost laughed, walking out the door and hearing her follow. Maybe there's still a chance for this one yet.